Trying without Facebook

Just a couple of days earlier, I was wondering how I could cope up without using of Facebook and here I am today writing an article about what has happened since I deactivated my Facebook account; and by what has happened I mean what good things have happened since then.

I am not implying that Facebook is bad, fairly it is better than what most of the social networking sites have to offer. It would be absolutely impertinent to internet and social media if I do not mention some good things about Facebook. 

It would be an naive attempt to call Facebook, and social media as a whole, useless; but what I believe is as every other advancements, especially in the field of web, the usefullness of Facebook are sometimes overshadowed by some negative aspects of it, and it is not an irony that most of the negative aspects come from users, at least predominately.

I am not here to compare the advantages and disadvantages of Facebook. There are excellent reviewers and analysts delivering that information. Firstly, how much of Facebook did I really used prior to me deactivating the account? Well, I must say it had been an integral part of my life. Each normal day would start with me logging in, checking the statuses, news and latest updates of friends and families; checking friends' newest photos (embroidered with interesting captions)! Another major reason to check Facebook early in the morning was to see if there were any major updates in the field of sport, especially football. Facebook was the major source of news and gossips from the world of football. Checking the comments for further information was another interesting thing while logged in. I did not really follow many pages; just major sports and music pages.

My post were almost infinitesimal compared to my friends and families; had not updated my profile picture or cover photo for more than a year, had posted few updates, hidden many tagged statuses and photos! My wall was almost blank except for few posts. I however was a voracious commentator, with comments on almost every friends' statuses and photos, silly comments. In some of the pages I would have frequent updates, in the pages related to education and studies. Leaving those, my activity on Facebook was almost nil.

Well, after deleting my Facebook account my life has not been turned upside down; neither has there been drastic improvements nor some surge in creativity. What has changed after deleting Facebook is how I use my time (free time to be exact). Instead of scrolling through various pages and newsfeed, I go through scholarly article, note them down if needed. I listen to music with full dedication rather than music being just a background while scrolling through Facebook. I recently have started reading some books before going to bed, at least just few pages, rather than reading some stupid jokes and memes, and definitely I have re-started writing which allows me not just to express my thinking; but also it helps me in my studies! 

The most notable change after deleting Facebook is the urge to actually talk to friends and family rather than communicating through chat jargons and emoticons! When I do not use Facebook I do not meet new people as frequent as when using it, but the ones that I meet are not through some picky lines in chat environment and some readymade emoticons but by some actual human conversation and some real human emotions and the ones that become friends are really amazing. We do not have the urge to meet every day in chat, or comment on their photos, but when we do meet it is great qe have lots to talk about, we share photos, share new events. One thing I noticed while using Facebook was how the conversation with people intended to be linked to Facebook's comments and photos eventually. It was demoralizing how every life events commensurate to Facebook's cheap comments and likes.

Another aspect that I did not much appreciate about Facebook was how the number of friends was kind of like competition. I am not a person who makes lots of friends and believe that no one can be good friends with great number of people. It is good having lots of friends, and we need them in our life but how much of them are really worth keeping in private circles and sharing each and every aspects of our life. I am very much sure that more than half the Facebook friends who like your status or photo do so because they are bound to, not because they want to, and hitting just a button is no hard task.

Lastly, if any of the friends are actually reading this, as Facebook has limited ability to read extensive posts, thanks for being a part of my Facebook life. Not saying it is bad or nuisance but for me it had inhibited my abilities to actually enjoy my life; which for me is not always exotic activities but doing simple things in full concentration; instead of having to take some photos for posting or having an urge to write a flashy status. Facebook is a great advancement in electronic communication and social media but not just for me. Not completely ruling out the possibility of using it at some point in the future but for right now I am better without it.